Land Ports of Entry at El Paso, Texas, Begin US-VISIT Entry Procedures; US VISIT Three Quarters Of The Way To Goal

Release Date: 12/21/04 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: Kimberly Weissman or Anna Hinken: 202-298-5200
December 21, 2004

US-VISIT biometric entry procedures began yesterday in the secondary inspection areas at land ports of entry at the Bridge of the Americas/Cordova Bridge, Paso del Norte Bridge and the Ysleta-Zaragoza Bridge in El Paso, Texas.

US-VISIT is three quarters of the way to meeting its schedule to complete the deployment of entry procedures at the 50 busiest land ports of entry by December 31, 2004.  

Visitors requiring an arrival/departure Form I-94 to enter the United States, including those traveling under the Visa Waiver Program, will be processed through US-VISIT at the secondary inspection area.

US-VISIT processing involves the collection of two index fingerscans and a digital photograph.  With the deployment of US-VISIT technology, a visitor will no longer be required to fill out the Form I-94 by hand.  Now the visitor’s biographic information will be entered electronically when the U.S. Custom and Border Protection officer scans the visitor’s travel document.  In ports where this technology has been deployed, the advancement has proven to expedite a visitor’s inspection time.  

“We have now deployed US-VISIT at more than three quarters of the 50 land border ports of entry scheduled for implementation by the end of the year,” said Jim Williams, the Director of the US VISIT Program, during a visit to the Bridge of the Americas/Cordova Bridge port earlier today.  “The simple, fast and clean US-VISIT technology and process allow for the more efficient management of data at the borders and are expediting the processing time for visitors subject to the procedures.”

The El Paso, Texas, ports that began processing visitors yesterday are part of a multi-phased deployment of US-VISIT over a period of several weeks.  In addition to these ports, there are four other land ports of entry implementing the US-VISIT procedures this week: Calais-Ferry Point, Maine, and Champlain, Thousand Islands, and Massena, New York.  The US VISIT procedures became operational in the ports of Lewiston-Queenston, Whirlpool Rapids, Peace Bridge and Rainbow Bridge,

New York; Santa Teresa, New Mexico; Fabens and Presidio, Texas; and Derby Line, Vermont, on December 16, 2004; at Ambassador Bridge and Windsor Tunnel, Michigan, on December 13, 2004; in the ports of Otay Mesa, San Ysidro, and Tecate, California, and Lynden, Pacific Highway, Peace Arch, Point Roberts, and Sumas, Washington, on December 9, 2004; in the ports of Lukeville, Nogales and San Luis, Arizona, and Calexico and Andrade, California, on December 6, 2004; and in the ports of Douglas, Arizona, Port Huron-Blue Water, Michigan, and Convent Street, Columbia Solidarity Bridge, Lincoln-Juarez Bridge and World Trade Bridge, Texas, on November 15, 2004.

The goals of US-VISIT are to enhance the security of our citizens and visitors; facilitate legitimate travel and trade; ensure the integrity of our immigration system; and protect the privacy of our visitors.

US-VISIT is a continuum of security measures that begins overseas, when a person applies for a visa to travel to the United States, and continues on through entry and exit at U.S. airports and seaports and, eventually, at land border crossings.  These measures will be expanded by the end of this year to the secondary inspection areas of the 50 busiest land ports of entry and to the remaining 115 land ports of entry by December 31, 2005.  

US-VISIT procedures will not impact visitors processed in the primary inspection area, but will apply to foreign visitors who are already processed in the secondary inspection areas.  At land ports of entry, the secondary inspection area is where visitors traveling with visas or passports are processed.  In addition to exempt Canadian citizens, initially most Mexican visitors who apply for admission using a Border Crossing Card (BCC) and travel within the “Border Zone” will not be processed through US VISIT.  

Since January 5, 2004, US-VISIT entry procedures have become operational at 115 airports, 15 seaports and at over two dozen land ports of entry.  More than 14.5 million foreign visitors have been processed without adversely impacting wait times.  At the same time, because of US-VISIT, the United States has been able to arrest or deny admission to more than 360 criminals or immigration violators.  These included federal penitentiary escapees, convicted rapists, drug traffickers, individuals convicted of manslaughter and credit card fraud, a convicted armed robber and numerous immigration violators and individuals attempting visa fraud.

Experience has shown that the US-VISIT enrollment process is fast, easy to understand and simple for visitors.  Expanding US-VISIT entry procedures to our land ports of entry builds on the Department's progress to enhance security for our citizens and visitors while facilitating legitimate travel and trade through our borders.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov/us-visit.

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This page was last modified on 12/21/04 00:00:00